Today's update isn't what I hoped it was going to be. I was fully expecting to hear some wonderful news this week that the second round of treatments had "done the trick" and I would get a clean bill of health and then just go into a monitoring program over the long run. Well there are some new bumps in my road to recovery.
This week Annette and I made two trips up to Duke. On Monday we went for a series of screenings, a CT/PET scan and also an endoscopy. The results would be delivered to us yesterday by our doctors. We met with the medical oncologist first and, unfortunately, the news wasn't what we had hoped for. I have new tumors forming in several locations. I have one large tumor located very near where the original tumor was found in the lower esophagus, some additional spots in my upper stomach, and finally, 4 small spots on the liver. Some other smaller tumors were found but when biopsied were found to be benign. The disturbing aspect of all this is that these are all new and have grown just in the past 3 months since my last screenings.
When I asked my doctor how this happened as I previously understood these were slow gr0wing type tumors she said "that's cancer, it is unpredictable, ever changing and can go from slow growing to agressive without warning." She was surprised by it all. The two rounds of treatments I went through early were effective from a "reactive" standpoint and addressed what I had. However, the earlier chemos apparently weren't "pro-active" in preventing new growth.
As a result, and since I can no longer have any more radiation treatments in this area, or surgery, my only option now is more chemo. She immediately ordered two new, very powerful, chemo drugs to be done via infusion (IV) mode once a week for two weeks then a week off and this goes on for 3 cycles or over the next 9 weeks. I had my first treatment already yesterday afternoon. They take about 4 hours to administer. Side effects can be worse than before: nausea, severe diarehha, possible partial hearing loss, and hair loss (no big deal for me). They started me on a regimen of anti-nauseau, anti-anxiety, and pain pills. So far so good.
While this hit us rather hard yesterday, and we had our weeping moments, by the time we got called for our first round of treatment (about a 3 hour wait) we had digested the situation, considered the options, and got our "game faces back on" to re-enter the fight. I think the mental challege is going to be a little tougher on me this time as the unfortunate reality is that these may be the last bullets I have to fire. If this doesn't work there isn't much more to try except for prayer, prayer and more prayer. This is where you come in as my family and friends. I am pleading with you to keep me in your prayers and extend your postive energy and thoughts my way. I love you all for different reasons and I am asking for your love in return.
Annette is amazing in her support as my non-medical attendant (what the insurance company calls her) and my loving wife. My girls are taking the news hard but also trying hard to be positive in their support. I will keep you posted as things move along. I am doing my best to stay upbeat and positive, but, honestly, it is a little tougher this time around. All I can say is Cancer is a bitch!
Love
Drew
Note from Annette: Each of you has heard the old adage about "life handing you a lemon" and the lemonade thing. We have chosen lemonade! It is more meaningful than I can express to have you share our lemonade.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Fun & Not Fun
Hello All
Just a little update while we await our return trips to Duke for testing and doctors meetings on 8/24 & 28. A lot has been going on with Annette and I over the past two weeks and I thought I might share some of that with you.
Two weeks ago we spent a week down at Myrtle Beach, right on the Inter-Coastal Waterway, at Annette's brother's, Oscar, second home. He has a beautiful place down there and was gracious enough to let us use it for a week. My oldest daughter, Jackie, and her family came up for about 5 fun filled days and my mother flew down from NY for two weeks with us here and at the beach. We just had a marvelous time. We swam, jet skied, tubed, water skied, pontoon boated long leisure trips, went shell hunting along the ICW, and spent one night at a great amusement park for the kids. It was one of the better vacations I have every had. Even my Mom, who is nearly 86, got out on the jet ski with Annette and had a bang up time. We all took some wonderful memories away from there with us. Thanks again Oscar.
Well, for me, that was backed up by the next week of "payback." I own a rental home in Wheeling, WV. I am in the process of selling it, as I have a buyer, but it needed new roofing and the 16 windows needing recaulking and painting before the VA would give the buyer a loan. I was feeling good and tackled the job along with the help of one of my friends in Wheeling and my brother and his buddy who came down from NY to put on the new roof. My friend and I spent 3 days on the roof in advance of my brother's visit stripping off the two layers of old shingles, removing all the old nails and putting down new felt paper. We also bought all the supplies in advance and were ready for when my brother and his friend showed up. When they arrived they jumped on the job and finished the whole roof in basically one full day. Unfortunately they also picked the hottest day, in the last 408 days in Wheeling, and it was a killer. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of stripping and putting on roofing, trust me, when it's 90 degrees out and sunny, on that roof it is more like 120. Now I remember why I went to college. This was the "last" roofing job I will ever do but we got it done and it looks great. Thanks to Rock, Dan, and Bill for their help. I was up there for a week splitting my time between roofing and painting. Plus the 9 hour drives each way on each end. It was a tough week and I'm glad it is over.
The day after I left for Wheeling, Annette headed out for two weeks of visit with her sister Margarete and her brother-in-law Hall in Southwestern Oregon. They have been having a good visit and even had a side trip to Chicago to provide family support for her sister's grandson who had to have an operation to remove a tumor. Thank God the proceedure went well and the prognosis is good. She is also getting a little time to play some golf and just catch up with her sister. She will be home on the 19th.
Well, I guess that is it for this update. My next one will be after the 28th and we pray it all goes well. Enjoy your summer and remember we always love company and have extra room should you need to get away and are thinking about Fayetteville, NC.
Drew
Just a little update while we await our return trips to Duke for testing and doctors meetings on 8/24 & 28. A lot has been going on with Annette and I over the past two weeks and I thought I might share some of that with you.
Two weeks ago we spent a week down at Myrtle Beach, right on the Inter-Coastal Waterway, at Annette's brother's, Oscar, second home. He has a beautiful place down there and was gracious enough to let us use it for a week. My oldest daughter, Jackie, and her family came up for about 5 fun filled days and my mother flew down from NY for two weeks with us here and at the beach. We just had a marvelous time. We swam, jet skied, tubed, water skied, pontoon boated long leisure trips, went shell hunting along the ICW, and spent one night at a great amusement park for the kids. It was one of the better vacations I have every had. Even my Mom, who is nearly 86, got out on the jet ski with Annette and had a bang up time. We all took some wonderful memories away from there with us. Thanks again Oscar.
Well, for me, that was backed up by the next week of "payback." I own a rental home in Wheeling, WV. I am in the process of selling it, as I have a buyer, but it needed new roofing and the 16 windows needing recaulking and painting before the VA would give the buyer a loan. I was feeling good and tackled the job along with the help of one of my friends in Wheeling and my brother and his buddy who came down from NY to put on the new roof. My friend and I spent 3 days on the roof in advance of my brother's visit stripping off the two layers of old shingles, removing all the old nails and putting down new felt paper. We also bought all the supplies in advance and were ready for when my brother and his friend showed up. When they arrived they jumped on the job and finished the whole roof in basically one full day. Unfortunately they also picked the hottest day, in the last 408 days in Wheeling, and it was a killer. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of stripping and putting on roofing, trust me, when it's 90 degrees out and sunny, on that roof it is more like 120. Now I remember why I went to college. This was the "last" roofing job I will ever do but we got it done and it looks great. Thanks to Rock, Dan, and Bill for their help. I was up there for a week splitting my time between roofing and painting. Plus the 9 hour drives each way on each end. It was a tough week and I'm glad it is over.
The day after I left for Wheeling, Annette headed out for two weeks of visit with her sister Margarete and her brother-in-law Hall in Southwestern Oregon. They have been having a good visit and even had a side trip to Chicago to provide family support for her sister's grandson who had to have an operation to remove a tumor. Thank God the proceedure went well and the prognosis is good. She is also getting a little time to play some golf and just catch up with her sister. She will be home on the 19th.
Well, I guess that is it for this update. My next one will be after the 28th and we pray it all goes well. Enjoy your summer and remember we always love company and have extra room should you need to get away and are thinking about Fayetteville, NC.
Drew
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